REPORTED SPEECH

LAURA CATALINA CASTRO URIBE

NICOLAS GONZÁLEZ CORTES
 THE VERBAL TENSES
Present simple ⇨ Past simple:

• I'm from Spain. ⇨ He said he was from Spain.

• I love to speak in English ⇨ She said she loved to speak in English.

• I live in London. ⇨ She said she lived in London.

Present Continuous ⇨ Past Continuous:

• I'm resting on the couch. ⇨ He said he was resting on the couch.

• You're driving on the wrong side. ⇨ She said she was driving on the wrong side.

• You're working too hard. ⇨ She said I was working too hard.
Past Simple ⇨ Past Perfect:

• I drove to Paris yesterday. ⇨ He said he had driven to Paris the day before.

• I woke up in the hospital. ⇨ He said he had woken up in the hospital.

• I worked last Sunday. ⇨ He said he had worked last Sunday.

Present Perfect ⇨ Past Perfect

• I have bought a new cushion. ⇨ She said she had bought a new cushion.

• I have swum with sharks. ⇨ She said she had swum with sharks.

• I have swallowed a gum. ⇨ She said she had swallowed her gum.
Past Perfect ⇨ Past Perfect

• No need to change the verb tense to 'informed discourse'.

• The jury had a lot of doubts about the case. ⇨ He said the jury had a lot of
questions about the case.
You can ⇨ could

• I can't understand the Scots. ⇨ She said she couldn't understand the Scots.

• I can play the piano. ⇨ She said she could play the piano.

• I can cook for you. ⇨ She said she could cook for me.
Will ⇨ would

• I'll take out the trash tonight. ⇨ He said he'd take out the trash that night.

• I'll love you forever. ⇨ She said she would love me forever.

• I'll talk to the manager. ⇨ She said she'd talk to the manager.
 PERSONAL PRONOUNS
• As with the verbs, we must also keep in mind that when we pass the sentence on
to the indirect speech style, the personal or possessive pronoun matches.
Example:
• Ryan said, I'm in a bit of a hurry.
• Ryan told me; He was in a hurry.
• My mother said, I'm going to lunch at your house."
• My mother said she'd come to my house for lunch.
 THE ADVERBS OF TIME AND PLACE
• By changing to indirect style, we take a step back in time, so “today” will be “that
day”, “tonight” will be “that night”, tomorrow will be “the day after”, etc.
• I talk to you tomorrow. ⇨ She said she talk to me the next day/next day.
• this afternoon ⇨ that afternoon
• today ⇨ that day
• now ⇨ then / at that time
• tomorrow ⇨ the next day / next
• last week ⇨ the week before / the week before
• the following month ⇨ the following month